Gay Singer

The British electro-pop band recently premiered a live version of a new single in the BBC Radio 1 Studios (video below), and they say that a new album is on the way.

This official premiere of “DNA,” was proceeded by frontman Olly Alexander singing an early version of the song in his BBC documentary Growing Up Gay (also shared down below).

Alexander also shared that more music from Years & Years’ second album will be released in “weeks, not months.”

As for the new track, it looks like DNA is about breaking past the binds of your past and even genetics. This message is important to openly gay signer Alexander and who’s also expressed his troubles with mental health issues. Ultimately, the song wishes to inspire strength in the listener.

The Korean music industry is suddenly getting a wave of LGBTQ representation lately. First, MRSHLL announced his upcoming debut into the Korean hip-hop music scene, next Hansol, a former member of the K-pop boyband Topp Dogg, came out as asexual, then K-pop girl group Loona featured a lesbian romance story in their music video this past December.

Now, newcomer Holland has debuted with his first single and included not only a gay romance in the music video, but a gay kiss.

Despite it seeming fairly ordinary to our American and Western mentalities, this is a significant moment in Korea’s music scene.

The video in question, which can be seen below, is so revolutionary that it’s been rated as 19+, according to Billboard.

The general perspective on LGBTQ life in Korea is still grasping to understand LGBTQ people, though they acknowledge the existence of their queer neighbors. This mentality is what allows the Korean military to still be openly imprisoning gay men in service (even though all men are required to serve for at least three years), and have a president who says he’ll do nothing to support LGBTQ rights.

That said, this video is already garnering praise for openly celebrating gay love as the hashtag #HollandDebutDay trended worldwide on twitter after the video’s release.

You can check out what caused all the jubilation in the video down below.

Australian singer Troye Sivan is back with a new single and music video.

“My My My!” shows Sivan opening up to a more sexual side of himself than ever before. The video not only includes heaps of shirtless men, like porn star VBrody Blomqvist, but it shows Sivan exploring the world of gay cruising.

“My My My!’ is a song of liberation, freedom, and love,” says Sivan. “Throw all inhibition to the wind, be present in your body, love wholeheartedly, move the way you’ve always wanted to, and dance the way you feel—hopefully even to this song!”

Sivan also shared on twitter he thoughts after the video dropped on Youtube.

“Guys legit im just scrolling through all of your comments and tweets and articles and i can’t stop smiling. so much more to come, too. 2018 is gonna be so fun!!!”

You can watch the video down below, and look forward to Sivan’s upcoming album (currently untitled) coming out in the spring.

Smith’s second album, titled The Thrill of It All, was released earlier today and is already getting rave reviews.

The special edition of the album includes 14 songs including “Too Good at Goodbyes,” “Midnight Train,” “HIM,” “Pray,” “One Day at a Time,” and more. Ultimately, the entire album amounts to 37 minutes and 28 seconds of music.

In addition, Sam Smith will be touring across the United States, Europe, and Mexico, to promote the album between the months of March and September in 2018.

In fact, you can already buy tickets to his concerts in cities like Glasgow, Dublin Berlin, Milan, Toronto, Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Nashville, Miami, Mexico City, Portland, and many more.

MNEK wrote a letter to share his thoughts on being gay and black to celebrate National Coming Out day.

Last week, MNEK, a singer and producer for artists like Beyoncé, Bastille, Diplo, and Madonna, took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the intersection of race and sexuality, as well as taking the journey to self-love and acceptance.

The 22-year-old British singer wrote:

“Happy national coming out day, guys. It feels impossible to do but we did it. I came out as gay when I was 18. A year before, I went to my first gay club… and decided amongst all the naked men and free alcohol that it was the perfect time to let the good sis know ‘I’m bi, i like boys and girls’ she goes ‘cool, i knew but i love you all the same bb’.

“The one foot in one foot out thing wasn’t fruitful. A trip to Malia with “some of the lads” in 2013 helped me realise girls just weren’t for me lol. I remember at the time I was just feeling v scared, and unsure – and so I’d try and drop it in conversation to normalize it with varying results.”

“I also think being black and realizing you’re gay can be v daunting. You dk what to do or who to talk to, you’re dealing with being a dual-minority in a world where being ONE kinda minority is bad enough.”

But despite his struggle, MNEK, who’s known personally as Uzoechi "Uzo" Emenike, is glad that he eventually came out and welcomes anyone who does the same (in their own time).

“If you’ve realized ur LGBTQ, come out in your own time. at your own pace. In your own way. It’s not easy but it’s easier than you think. Trust and believe me. We can take back the strength of ‘coming out’.

The singer has teased fans with rehearsal footage on social media before, but has just released a return date to get us officially excited.

First, the singer posted a message on Instagram stating that he was coming back “very very soon.”

“I have missed you all desperately, and a day hasn’t gone by when I haven’t been looking at all your comments & dreaming of singing with you all again. The wait is so nearly over. Something is coming very very very soon. I am scared & excited at the same time. I’ve poured my soul and heart into this record,” he added. “Love you all, and see you in the not so distant future.”

But that’s not all the news on the matter. Investigative fans have discovered what’s most likely the name of the single as well.

You see, PPLUK is a music registration site, and Sam Smith has a new title under his name. The title is “Too Good At Goodbyes” and fans are guessing that’s the name of his upcoming single. Plus, the lyrics site Genius also has this new song under Smith’s name (though, there aren’t any lyrics attached yet).

Of course, the official name of the song hasn’t been confirmed yet, but all this investigative work has got fans pretty excited. And, we won’t have to wait long to find out if they were right, because the single will release in just a week.

South Korea is about to get its first openly gay singer and no one knows how he’ll be received.

MRSHLL (born Marshall Bang) is a Korean-American singer who’s found his home in South Korea, and preparing for the release of his first EP in the country this fall.

Originally from Texas, Marshall grew up deeply rooted in Christianity as his mother is a minister.

As such, it was pretty hard for MRSHLL when he came out as gay. And recently it has become even harder now that he has become more public about his sexuality (to the point that he hasn’t talked to his mother in months).

“I adore my mother,” says Bang told Forbes, “She’s an incredible, strong woman but her and my dad don't have the context for what it means to be gay. They come from a community that doesn't talk or want to know about this topic, but I get where they are coming from, and I'm going to continue to have conversations and try to get through.”

And the problems with acceptance will only continue as Bang tries to make it in South Korea.

"I thought about it extensively," says MRSHLL, "I asked all my friends and went over and over again whether I should come out from the get-go, or wait later in my career. I was worried that I might be typecast as the resident gay artist, but at the end I was like, 'I’m gonna do me beau.'"

You see, South Korea is still struggling with its understanding of LGBTQ people. While the country is conscious of their existence, many still don’t have names and faces to associate with LGBTQ people (or at least don’t know that they do).

In fact, there are still very few out celebrities in the South Korean entertainment business. And, the South Korean government is not helping matters with the military opening targeting gay men and the newly elected president saying he'll have nothing to do with LGBTQ issues.

As such, MRSHLL would be the first openly gay singer in the country and has stated that he won't stray from talking about LGBTQ life.

"My song 'Dopamine' literally has a line saying: ‘This is for my gays,'" MRSHLL confessed, "It's a song about empowerment for the LGBTIQ community, and it features a narration from the one and only Kim Chi from Season 8 of 'Ru Paul's Drag Race.'”

Luckily though, MRSHLL has found acceptance and family in his new record label.

Feel Ghood Music is a record label that’s known for collecting “kyopo” singers (or Korean singers hailing from other countries), and it seems that MRSHLL has found a home there.

"I was working in music video production, and I was already starting to know people in the industry. I was invited to this event, and at the after party, a karaoke machine was brought out, and I decided to sing Boyz II Men's 'It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.' Then, Tasha aka Yoon Mi-rae came up to me, complemented my singing, and we just became friends starting from then onward. She has been especially supportive," he recounted.

And now with the support of his label and several foreign fans, he is quickly moving on to his musical debut. But, the question is will South Korea accept him.

In addition, there’s also the question of will people accept him for himself and his music or because he is a gay singer. We admit that the reason he has popped onto our radar is because of his sexuality, but its his voice that’s had us stay to see what becomes of him.

The movie, titled Boy Erased, is the film adaption of a 2016 memoir by Garrard Conley titled Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family.

Along with Sivan, the film has just cast Cherry Jones of 24 and Michael “Flea” Balzary from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

The three will be joining Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe who will be a Baptist pastor and his wife from a small American town. Their son, Lucas Hedges, will be outed by his parents at the age of 19, and then forced to go through conversion therapy.

Nothing’s known about the roles Sivan and the other new cast-mates will be playing.

But, this won’t be the first time the “Fools” and “Youth” singer graced the silver screen. His first credit went to appearing in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine (but perhaps everyone just wanted to forget that movie existed).

Boy Erased will start up its production in the fall and release in 2018.